African Garden + wildflower wednesday

Wildflower Wednesday

Wildflower Wednesday, hosted by Gail of Clay of Limestone on the third Wednesday of every month, is even more special this month because it's also National Pollinator Week. My post at Beautiful Wildlife Garden this week celebrates Squirrelhaven's pollinators. The native wildflowers are at a bit of a lull here at Squirrelhaven this week, transitioning from the woodland garden to the Nanoprairie. The last woodland wildflower still metaphorically standing is the one that stands tallest, the big Solomon's Seal, Polyganatum caniculatum. The highest of its blooms are at eye level. It's the darling of the bumblebees.

Moving from the sublime to the ridiculous colorwise, the big show now is the over-the-top magenta blooms of Callirhoe involucrata.

It's a sprawly thing that interweaves among other plants.

It's easy to see why the common name is "wine cups."

Of a similar color are the blooms of Asclepias purpurescens.

Last year only one plant sprouted, but this year, all three sprouted and two are blooming. I'm hopeful for seeds this year. It's smaller and better behaved than Asclepias syriaca, the other pink flowered milkweed.

I wish I had pictures of the latter two plants with pollinators, but the weather has been wet and windy, not ideal for them.